Floor and ceiling construction



Feb. 13, 1934. c. R. BIRDSEY El AL 1,947,401 I FLOOR AND CEILINGCONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 26, 1928 (I'IlxfllII/l I INVENTOR S/EB/EDGEKHBEET 14 PEEL. ATTonus v fl Patented Feb. 13, 1934 PATENT DFFICE FLOOR,AND CEILING CONSTRUCTION Charles R, dale, Ill., Company, Chicago,Illinois Birdsey and Herbert W. Reel, Hinsassignors to United StatesGypsum 111., a corporation of Application November 26, 1928 Serial No.321,847

6 Claims.

In floor constructions heretofore used for'gypsum materials, steelsupport members have been provided which have insufficient bearingsurface for precast gypsum tile with the result that the 6 crushingstrength on the supported areas of the gypsum tile is exceeded, with theresultant failure of the tile. Also, it is common for steel shapes to betwisted and crooked, with the result that the supporting steel membersare farther apart at some points than at others so that precast gypsumtile are liable to slip out of place and fall downwardly between thesupport members. In some roof constructions employing gypsum tile, thetile are insufficiently anchored to the steel members so that said tileare lifted out of place by tornadoes or the like, thus causing a greatdeal of damage to buildings where improperly designed steel anchorage isused. In othen roof constructions, the steel shapes for supporting thetile are not efficiently designed so as to give maximum strength per tonof steel used, so that the cost of steel is excessive.

An object of this invention, therefore is to provide a steel shape forroof construction which will insure a maximum bearing surface for thesupported ends of the gypsum or other tile.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roof construction inwhich the gypsum tile are properly anchored to the steel support beamsso that the roof is resistant to tornadoes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a roof construction inwhich the steel in the supporting members is so distributed that amaximum efficiency in strength per ton of steel is obtained; also toimprove roof constructions in other respects hereinafter specified andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective viewour improved roof construction, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, on a large scale, thru our improvedroof construction.

A roof is usually supported on main purlins which may be in the form ofI beams having upper and lower flanges 11. In our improved roofconstruction, special steel strips 12 are provided which we shalldesignate as bulb Ts. These bulb Ts have a base flange 13 of relativegreat width, a web 14 which is comparatively thin and of considerabledepth, and a bulb 15 parallel to the base flange 13. In order to securea maximum economy of strength per ton of steel the steel in the crosssection of our improved bulb T is preferably so proportioned that thetotal height of the bulb T is approximately equal to the total width ofthe base flange 13 and the thickness of the web 14 is approximately onethird the thickness of the bulb 15. The bulb 15 while only about onethird as tall as the depth of the web 14, is preferably of slightlygreater dimension vertically than transversely; and has flattened sidesso as to further increase the available bearing surface of the base 13.The preferred shape of the bulb T is shown in Fig. 2. By reference toFig. 2, it will be seen that the base 13 is approximately six times aswide as the bulb 15, and it should be noted that the bulb 15 forms ashoulder 16 on each side of the web 14, this pair of shoulders beingprovided for pur-'- pose to be hereinafter described.

-The main purlins 10 are preferably spaced apart a distance of 6 feet inorder to best utilize the strength of our bulb Ts. Precast gypsum tile17, or tile of other desired material, .are placed across from one baseflange 13- to the next, the lower corners 18 of said tile beingsupported on said base flange 13.

The distance between the bulb TS is preferably so adjusted that a space19.is provided between the end of each tile and the bulb 15. Owing tothe weight of the tile and to the weight of workmen who walk on theroof, the corner 18 of the tiles will crush down to a certain extent togive a broad bearing surface on the base 86 flange 13 which has'a veryslightly sloping surface of about 1. Suitable grooves 20 are providedalong the top longitudinal edges of each tile so that'when thetiles arein abutting position, edge to edge as shown in Fig. 1, said grooves 9co-operate to form a channel or trough for the reception of grout 21.This grout is preferably composed of some cementitious material such asstucco mixed with water. The grout is poured into the cracks between thetile, and runs down through the spaces 19 to fill up a space 22 betweenthe ends of the tile and the web 14 of the bulb T. It will be seen fromFig. 2, that after the grout 21 sets, the shoulders 16 provide anexcellent anchorage to hold the tile in place on the bulb Ts 12 in caseof tornadoes or other atmospheric disturbances. Instead of using precasttile, the cementitious material may be poured in place about the bulb Tusing suitable forms.

We would state in conclusion that, while the illustrated exampleconstitutes a practical .embodiment of our invention, we do not wish tolimit ourselves precisely to these details since manifestly the same canbe considerably varied no tion as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1. In a roof construction, a plurality of substantially parallel bulb Tscomprising base, web and elongated bulb portions, the total height ofthe bulb T being substantially equal to the total width of the base,said web being solid, comparatively thin and of considerable depth andsaid bulb being flat sided and having a vertical dimension equal toabout one-third the depth of said web, means for supporting said bulbTs, said bulbs forming shoulders along the lower edge of each bulbadjacent the web, precast gypsum tiles having substantially square endssupported by the bases of said bulb Ts, said' tiles having a thicknessgreater than the height of said Ts and having their ends adjacent to andspaced from said bulbs, and grout poured about said bulb Ts between saidtiles so as to anchor said tiles to said shoulders.

2. In a roof or floor construction, spaced purlins, bulb Ts supported onsaid purlins, and precast tiles having a thickness greater than theheight of said bulb Ts supported by said bulb Ts, said bulb Ts eachhaving a base, a thin, solid, vertical web' midway of the base and avertically elongated, flat sided bulb on said web,

the total height of each bulb T being approximately equal to the totalwidth of the base, said bulb being approximately three times thethickness of the web and providing shoulders adjacent the web, the lowercorners of the precast tiles being supported upon said base, withoutcontacting said bulb, and a space being left between the ends of saidtiles and said bulb to permit grout to be pouredabout said bulb Tsbetween said tiles whereby said shoulders will interlock said tiles withsaid bulb Ts.

3. In a roof or floor construction, precast tiles and long span steelbulb Ts for supporting said tiles, said bulb Ts each comprising a baseflange ,without departing from the spirit of the invenof relativelygreat width, a web which is solid, comparatively thin and ofconsiderable depth, and a bulb having flattened sides on said webparallel to the base; the total height of the bulb T being approximatelyequal to the total width of the base flange and the thickness of the webbeing approximately one'third the thickness 01 the bulb, the outstandingbase flanges of said bulb T providing a bearing surface for the ends ofsaid tiles.

'4. A bulb T adapted for supporting floor or roof slab, comprising abase, an upright, solid web and a flattened bulb on said web, said basebeing about six times as wide as said bulb, said bulb being three timesthe thickness of said Web, and the total height of the bulb T beingsubstantially equal to the total width of the base.

5. A bulb T adapted for supporting tiles in floor or roof constructioncomprising a base, an upright, solid web and an elongated flattened bulbon said web, said base having a very slightly sloping surface of about 4and being about six times as wide as said bulb, said bulb being threetimes the thickness of said web, the total height of the bulb T beingsubstantially equal to the total width of the base, said bulb formingshoulders adjacent the web adapted for engaging with grout materialbetween said tiles and anchoring said tiles in place.

6. A long span bulb T adapted for supporting square end tiles in flooror roof construction, comprising a base, an upright, solid web and anelongated flattened bulb on said web, said base having a very slightlysloping surface and being about six times as wide as said bulb, saidbulb ,being three times the thickness of said web,

thetotal height of the bulb T being substantially equal to the totalWidth of the base, said base providing bearing surface for said squareend tile without contacting said bulb. A

CHARLES R. BIRDSEY. HERBERT W. REEL.

